


Missing Memories And Fixing A Family

by gh0st1nn1t



Category: The Umbrella Academy (Comics), The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Ben Hargreeves Deserves Better, Ben Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Dave Is Mentioned A Lot, Good Sibling Diego Hargreeves, Head Injury, Hospitals, Injury Recovery, Klaus Gets Amnesia, Klaus Hargreeves Deserves Better, Klaus Hargreeves Has PTSD, M/M, Not Beta Read, Recovery, Sober Klaus Hargreeves, Stuttering Diego Hargreeves, Tags Are Hard, Temporary Amnesia, We Die Like Ben, more specifically - Freeform, vanya - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:27:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25679608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gh0st1nn1t/pseuds/gh0st1nn1t
Summary: Diego had been asleep when the call had come through, absentmindedly picking it up, barely awake."Hello? Is this Diego Hargreeves? You have been listed as one of the emergency contacts for a Mr Klaus Hargreeves?"Diego was wide awake, and, within minutes, in his car, speeding towards the hospital.Or in which Klaus gets amnesia, the siblings actually talk to each other for once and his secrets get spilled.
Relationships: Dave/Klaus Hargreeves
Comments: 32
Kudos: 287





	1. I - Ring Ring, answer the phone! It's depression!

**Author's Note:**

> okay, so, i was re-watching the Netflix series and i was like,,,, hold on,, wouldnt klaus owe money to a shit ton of people if hes homeless and buys drugs?? and then i remembered the idea of having klaus spill his secrets while not remembering who he is,,so i combined them,,,here u go lol
> 
> also the hospital is made up lol  
> also ben isnt dead because im in denial and his death made me cry so here, hes still a good ghost boy
> 
> all possible content warnings for this chapter, in no specific order :  
> -major head injury  
> -panic attack  
> -recovery not taken seriously  
> -recovery from drug addiction and alcoholism  
> -mentioned past overdoses  
> -mentions of vomit  
> -descriptions of the ghosts Klaus sees

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> if any of yall interpret this as incest i will l o s e i t
> 
> warnings   
> -klaus gets amnesia  
> -mentions of PAST drug addictions/overdoses  
> -medical stuff thats probably wrong lmao

Diego had not been expecting the call, which, to be fair, was _not his fault._

For one, it had been around 2am, and he had been asleep half-way across the room from his phone. The sudden buzzing noise hadn't woken him though, but the phone had been vibrating as it rang out, and it shook itself off of his counter. The loud 'thump!' had awoken him, knife already in hand. Diego, being Diego, slept with a knife collection beside his bed ( _locked in a safe, of course, you can't give possible intruders free weapons when you’re at your most vulnerable_ ) and two knives beneath his pillows. He had sprung up, the handle of one of his daggers pressing into his palm.

Once he realised it had been just a phone call, he rubbed his eyes groggily, grumbling under his breath about people not understanding even _badasses_ like _him_ needed sleep. All previous panic had slipped away, and he placed the knife carefully back beneath his pillow. As relaxed as he became, he was _not_ risking damaging a knife. 

He weaved his way in between his furniture to grab his phone from the floor, pressing the answer button with a bit too-much force, fueled by his sleep, or lack thereof. 

"Hello?" Diego asked, trying not to fall back asleep as he leaned against his counter. Whoever it was, it better be important. Someone better be in danger. Someone better be dying.

"Hello? Is this Diego Hargreeves? This is Promise Hills Health Center. You have been listed as one of the emergency contacts for Mr Klaus Hargreeves," A kind voice spoke softly, as if trained to deliver bad news.

 _Fuck,_ Diego thought, _he took it back._

"Yes, I am, what happened? Did he overdose again?" Diego had gone straight back to alert mode, already tugging on his leather jacket over his loose grey sleep-shirt. It hadn't been common for members of the Hargreeves to receive hospital calls about Klaus, but that didn't mean they didn't get quite a few. Plus, those had been years ago, and Klaus had promised to sober up.

"No, no, nothing like that. We can not disclose too much information over the phone, but your brother has been rushed in not long ago."

"Sh-Shit!" Diego stumbled over his words, not an uncommon occurrence once he got stressed. "Okay, okay, fuck. I'll be there in a minute."

When Diego said 'in a minute' he wasn't kidding. He had been out the door within thirty seconds, having tugged on his trousers the moment the phone call ended, and leaving his shoes unlaced. He practically dived into his car, and he was _thankful as hell_ that he knew the cops in his city, because he was sure he ran at least ten red lights and broke some _major_ traffic violations. He went almost twice the speed limit the entire time. But at least the cops he knew would excuse all of that if he simply told them his brother was in hospital.

Sprinting in, Diego immediately demanded answers from the nurse who stood beside the receptionist, who looked slightly startled by the leather-clad, scarred man bursting in. They had dark skin, and knotty, long blond curls, tied back behind their head. Their expression almost fell into one of pity when he began talking.

"Hi," he panted, out of breath but still determined, "I- uh- shit, I spoke to some-someone on the phone. My br-um, broth-brother, Klaus Har-Ha-Har-Haa-Hargreeves, got ru-ru-ru-shit! Rushed in earlier?"

"Are you Diego Hargreeves?" They had asked in response, not wanting to disclose private medical information to a stranger. Diego had simply nodded in response, not wanting to fumble over his words any longer. Graces words echoed in his head. _‘Picture the words in your mind’_. He tried, but they just seemed to blur and smudge, so he threw that advice out of the window, settling for gesturing instead of talking.

They typed something onto their computer and waved over a wandering assistant. "Mr Hargreeves, we got an anonymous call almost two hours ago. Paramedics rushed to the scene, and found your brother. He is alive, currently, but he has suffered major head trauma and possible brain damage. He woke up not long ago, he just got out of surgery. We attempted calling his other emergency contacts, including a Miss Vanya Hargreeves, a Mr Five Hargreeves and a Miss Allison Hargreeves, but no one answered."

While Diego was left frozen, processing the information, the nurse turned to the assistant they had called over, asking them to cover them for a few minutes. They began walking, gesturing for Diego to follow. "He was found with severe head trauma, most likely from a blunt weapon along with fists, judging by his other injuries. The police had been called the moment the paramedics arrived on scene. They found the man, a Mr Rufus Gillespie? Perhaps you know him?"

Diego shook his head truthfully. He felt almost sick. Scratch that, he definitely felt sick. He swallowed down the taste of bile. His stomach was twisted into tight knots, and his throat burned at the thought of Klaus being attacked so violently. As someone who prided himself in fighting crime, he should have been desensitised to violence, but the victim being his brother had hit especially hard. He had always worried about his brother being victim to a crime. 

Whenever he heard a call on the police radio about a dead junkie, he would panic and send a text to Klaus, making up some excuse about not being able to sleep and asking to get waffles, or just asking how he was. Diego had always worried about Klaus, but at the wrong times.

"The patient is refusing to answer questions and Mr Gillespie won't speak either," the receptionist sighed with the lack of answers, beginning to climb the stairs, "But he has been arrested for the attack already. Mr Hargreeves had two emergency surgeries, one on scene, one back at the hospital. He is currently stable, mostly-"

Diego couldn't help it, he spoke up, "What do you mean mostly?" 

They had just reached the fifth floor, and were walking to a room near the end of the hallway. The nurse stayed quiet, before reaching out to open the door handle and sighing. "You'll see. All the effects of the anesthesia had worn off, but he suffered an intense panic attack around five minutes ago. He is also currently suffering from amnesia, which we picked up on the brain scans, and we are currently unaware of how permanent it is."

As Diego was left with the thought of that, which, by the way, is _not_ something you dump on someone last minute, the nurse opened the door, allowing him to step in to see Klaus.

Klaus was...well, he didn't look like Klaus.

He was frail, and deathly pale. Limp, stringy, brown curls hung down into his gaunt face, poking out beneath the bandages. Bandages covered part of his head, stopping just below the hairline and wrapping around all of the back of his head. The hospital gown was ill-fitting, hanging off of his thin frame. The hospital trousers were loose, cuffing around his ankles, causing the fabric to bunch up. 

Over his ears were noise-cancelling headphones, which he was pressing down with his hands so hard that his fingers and knuckles had gone pale white. His legs were crossed and pulled up to his chest, hands resting on them as he fidgeted. His eyes were squeezed shut, the eyebags beneath them along with the harsh purple and yellow bruises standing out from his skin.

His lip was split, a piece of butterfly tape holding it in place. A scratch covered most of his left cheek, going from his jawline to right into the corner of his eye. His right eye was swollen, the bruises harsh against his white skin. Bandages were wrapped around his right arm, peaking out from below his hospital gown and stopping just below his knuckles.

"Holy shit," Diego breathed out, forgetting the young nurse was beside him. He noticed how his brother was clutching the headphones like a lifeline, and turned to the nurse, "Why-w-why is he w-we-wea-we-w-wearing those headph-p-fff-phones? Did his he-heaa-hearing get fu-ff-fucked up?"

The nurse shook their head, "Not at all, they are noise cancelling. It's not protocol to give them to patients, but he was having some form of nervous breakdown. The screaming was distracting doctors, and when we tried to ask what was wrong, he kept talking about all the people in his room, and how they wouldn't stop screaming and crying and yelling. There was no one in his room, but we gave them to him to be safe."

Diego had never been close to Klaus, but he could have sworn his heart broke for his (barely) younger brother. He knew Klaus was afraid of the ghosts as a kid, but he played it off as if he had them under control as an adult. Apparently not. "Wa-ugh, Was he h-hi-um-high when he got...r-ru-ru-uh, rushed in?" 

The nurse looked at him sympathetically. Klaus' medical record was full of rehab centers and psych wards and almost fatal overdoses and alcohol poisoning. They didn’t blame him for expecting Klaus to be under some sort of influence. "There were no traces of any drugs or alcohol in his system."

He had to fight not to release a sigh of relief.

"I have to get back downstairs, just, make sure not to startle him or overwhelm him, okay? And if anyone asks, tell them that Montgomery let you stay, visiting hours are technically over, but I fear your brother will struggle left alone until 10am, when they open, okay?" The nurse demanded in a strict voice, receiving a nod in return. "Good," and with that, they left the room, shutting the door gently behind them.

Diego shuffled over, and he noticed Klaus still hadn't noticed he was in the room, due to his ears and eyes being covered. He sat down on the edge of Klaus' bed, making Klaus open his eyes enough to see him. Diego tapped his ears, a way of asking Klaus to remove the headphones. Hesitantly, he took the headphones off, sliding them down his neck. As he did it, Diego noticed how violently he was trembling, as the headphones almost slipped from his hands multiple times in the small movement.

"Hey, Klaus," Diego spoke softly, not wanting to startle him. The nurse had mentioned slight amnesia, so he knew what to expect. He had pictured the words in his mind before speaking, trying to keep his stutter under control.

"Who...who are you?" 

Shit. He did not expect this.

A flicker of hurt crossed his face, but he was careful to hide it, not wanting to upset his still-trembling brother. "I'm Di-Diego, your bro-bro-br-brother," he saw a look of confusion cross his face, and he clarified, " _Adopted_ brother."

"I-I'm sorry, I don't remember you," Klaus admitted, eyes locked onto his hands as he fidgeted with them. 

"That's okay, Kla-Klaus, they mentioned you might have issues...remembering?" 

"I don't remember anything. Just my name. I don't even know how I got here. I don't know where I'm from, I don't know the names for basic things. I don't know my family. I don't know what these are for," Klaus had raised his voice slightly, tugging on his dog tags as he began actually looking his brother in the eyes before he flinched away from something Diego couldn't see and returned to avoiding eye-contact.

Diego's heart shattered. He had never seen Klaus so vulnerable. He was horrible with emotions, usually finding something to punch, or someone to chase, and they were tempting options, but his brother was in a hospital bed, utterly alone, and he knew he had to stay. Klaus had opened up to him before, about Dave, about being tortured, about Ben saving Diego's life, and he had brushed him aside and ignored it. He would be damned if he did that again.

"No, shut up!" Klaus covered his ears with his hands, pushing himself back against the wall as he squeezed his eyes shut. 

Diego couldn't see them. He knew. Otherwise Klaus knew that he would be just as terrified as him.

The room was filled with hospital patients. Some had died peacefully, like the young woman who was dressed in pajamas who kept her eyes shut, or the young man who was uninjured, wearing a leather jacket and a hoodie and staring at Klaus with a frown and bloodshot eyes, hidden behind some incredibly tall ghosts or the older man who seemed to have died in his sleep. They were mostly quiet. But some were violent.

There was one who looked to be a murder victim who was screaming bloody-murder, or the man dressed in patients clothes who looked like he walked straight out of a 18 rated movie, who seemed to be the victim of a failed surgery, judging by the amount of things showing that weren’t meant to be showing. They wouldn't stop. They kept screaming for Klaus, kept screaming for him to help, kept demanding Klaus helped them kill who did it to them, kept wailing for their families. There were dozens of them, and they all kept _yelling and yelling and yelling and-_

Diego interrupted his train of thought. "Klaus, hey, hey, hey, calm down, breathe," he whispered, gently prying his hands away from his ears, which were pressed against them so harshly that his ears looked irritated. 

"No! You can't see them! They're all screaming and screaming and they wont stop! I'm going mad, they keep shouting at me! They won't go away!" Klaus almost yelled, small tears visible in his eyes before he squeezed them shut. He tugged his headphones back on, holding them in place firmly.

"No, no, no, no, Kla-Klaus, calm down, buddy, just breathe, okay?" He slid the headphones down. "It sounds crazy, but what you're seeing? They’re ghosts. You're not mad, you're seeing ghosts. They can't hurt you if you control them, and you can try to control them if you just breathe," Diego had no idea where it was all coming from, but seeing Klaus so panicked and frantic had set off a brotherly instinct.

Klaus met his eyes, finally breathing a slow pattern. "Ghosts, huh?" He cracked a smile, which even Diego noticed was incredibly fake. "That explains a lot. How do I control them?" Just as he said it, his eyes flickered over to a space by his heart monitor, before he forced himself to look away.

"I don't know, man. I think you just...don't focus on them," Diego lied, not wanting to admit Klaus controlled them by getting high off his ass, something he had only learned recently when he had asked what got Klaus into his drug habit. "There's-" Diego took a deep breath, knowing he was approaching a sensitive topic, "There's usually one of them who follows you around. He...He was or brother, died 17 years ago. His name's Ben. He might be here?" 

Klaus scanned the room, forcing himself to speak to the ghosts. "Are any of you named Ben?" 

He watched as two men raised their hands. One was a tiny boy, who looked incredibly fragile, and the other was an old man with a limp who was bellowing at him. Klaus noticed one of the ghosts in the back was being blocked, and he was unsure if the ghosts hand was up or not. He didn’t want to engage any more than he had to, so he chalked it up to his imagination, telling himself the ghost didn’t have his hand up.

He did.

"There's a little kid and an old man," Klaus turned back to Diego, whose shoulders slumped along with Bens.

"Not him then."

Then another voice spoke up. "Hey! Assholes! I'm right here!" Ben yelled, sat on the windowsill, but his voice had been drowned out by the wails of other ghosts.

"Do...Do you have any pictures of him? Or any of the family?" Klaus was careful with his wording, focusing as hard as he could on Diego or his words, or anything that wasn't the ghosts. He noticed it actually made them a bit quieter if he put all of his attention onto one thing. It was still incredibly loud, like someone playing horror movie screams on full volume in a room where every inch of wall was covered with speakers, but it was more bearable than before. 

Diego pulled out his wallet, showing off a photo of them as kids. "The one looking to the side is you. Dad wanted everyone to face the camera but you refused. The old bastard is Dad, obviously. That's me," Diego pointed to the short kid in the front, "That's Allison, she's chill at times," he pointed to the tall girl with puffy curls, "That's Luther, he sucks," Klaus snorted at the commentary as he observed the image. "There's Ben," he pointed to the kid who stood behind Klaus, looking shy, "Five's the one in the back, and he still looks 13, but don't mention it to him or he will go apeshit," he gestured to the one with neatly combed hair, "And Vanya wasn't in this photo. I think I've got one of her somewhere on here," he began fumbling with his phone, scrolling through his images before flipping it so Klaus could see.

It was a fairly recent photo of Vanya as she finally played the violin in front of them properly, and not mid-apocalypse. Luther was smiling politely, Allison was on her feet, cheering, Diego couldn't be seen due to him holding the phone, Five was sat on the couch with Delores beside him, and Klaus was draping himself over Vanya, jokingly gushing about her being the world's best violinist, which had made Vanya laugh mid-picture.

"She's the one there," Diego points to the woman with the precious violin and the long brown hair. "And the one in the corner clapping is Mom," he pointed to the woman with startlingly good posture and old-fashioned clothes and fancy hair.

"Woah, we have a lot of siblings," Klaus chuckled quietly to himself, silently thanking Diego for distracting him from the ghosts. 

"I know, it's hell," Diego laughed, joining Klaus. "Oh god, the family dinners, they were a nightmare. _Actually_ , no, those were mostly on me, it was the training that was a mess."

"Training?" Klaus repeated, confused.

 _Oh well,_ Diego thought, _too late to turn back._

"We were raised as a sort of experiment, as we were all born with powers. You got the ghosts, I got the knives," As an example, he pulled a dagger from his pocket that he must have left in there, and threw it to the wall opposite him, before making it spin back around and land back in his hand. "See?"

"Woah," Klaus breathed.

"Woah is right," Diego grinned, "Allison can make anyone do anything, all she has to say is 'I heard a rumour' and they do it. Vanya...we don't exactly know what she has just yet. Luther has some weird super strength and gorilla powers, Ben could literally make tentacles appear, Five can time travel-"

"Time Travel?" Klaus interrupted. A stinging pain began erupting in his head, near the front, aching to get out whatever his brain was thinking. Something was on the tip of his tongue. 

"Yeah, like, skip through time, go to the future, go to the past, all that," Diego explained, worry settling deep in his chest, thinking Klaus didn't know what time travel was.

Klaus waved a hand, "No, no, I get that, I just...I thought I remembered something, something about me time travelling alone, that's all," he spoke quietly, the frustration of not remembering leaking into his voice.

"Remembered...?" Diego paused, the concern doubling. He knew Klaus, and he knew Klaus had never time travelled. Except when they got stuck in the 60's but Klaus wasn't alone, Ben was with him, so what the hell was he talking about? "Klaus, you've never time travelled alone..."

Ben groaned in frustration. "Yes he has! Vietnam, 1968!" He cried, wanting to help his brother, but still being drowned out in the sea of screaming ghosts.

"I don't know what that memory even was, it just felt...familiar," Klaus paused, yawning, "'m tired. This is...a lot."

"Try and sleep then, okay? Here," Diego handed him back the headphones and left a burner phone on the stand beside the hospital bed. He scribbled down his number on a notepad that was beside the phone. "I'll be out in the hallway, call me when you wake up or if you need anything."

Klaus was already slipping into sleep, the pain spreading through his body, the bruises hurt like hell, and he still didn't know where he got them from. He had turned onto his side, curling up and holding onto the dog tags. He didn't know why, but he felt like he had done it a lot before.

Diego noticed, and frowned slightly. He felt bad he couldn't even give Klaus an explanation on what he wore them for, as Klaus had refused to tell him...ever. _“They belonged to a friend.”_ That was all that he would say. Just as Klaus began sleeping, he noticed the new tattoo on his upper arm. It wasn't new, it was healed over and looked years old, but he had never seen it before. Something about 'soldiers'. 

He brushed it off, stepping into the hallway to call the others. He knew most of them wouldn’t pick up an unknown number, so he assumed that that was the reason they didn’t pick up the hospital calls. He just hoped they would at least anwer his. Five picked up instantly.

"What? I'm trying to sleep, asshole," He complained, and Diego could feel the glare through the screen. It didn’t affect him at all though, he knew the call had a good reason behind it.

"Shut up, Five, this is important. Klaus is in the hospital, he got attacked, he has _amnesia_ , he doesn't know who any of us are," Diego decided to be as blunt as possible. That was the best way to deal with Five. Beating around the bush only made him irritated and snappy.

"Shit-" 

And then Five hung up.

Diego groaned, rubbing his eyes. He was far too tired to deal with this crap. Five could be a dick at times. He knew that, but he didn’t expect him to just hang up after finding out one of his siblings had been hospitalised with severe memory problems. He sighed, and moved onto Vanya, knowing she'd be easier to deal with.

He was wrong.

"Oh thank god, Diego, I noticed I had a missed call so I looked up the number and I saw it was from the hospital. I didn’t want to clog up their phone so I didn’t call back, what happened?" Vanya hurried out, voice clearly worried. She had a tendency to ramble when she got nervous. That, or her powers would break anything fragile around her.

"Klaus, uh, Klaus got hurt," he paused, seeing if Vanya would reply. She didn't. He took a deep breath, continuing, making sure his words were soft, not wanting to upset Vanya when her powers were still on edge "He got hurt, he's got amnesia and he forgot us and his powers."

"Is- Is he okay now?" She sniffled slightly, making Diego wince. He could hear the cries in her voice, and he wanted to go over and make sure she was okay, make sure she didn’t hurt anyone with her powers, but he knew he needed to stay with Klaus.

"He's asleep now, if that's what you mean, yeah."

"Good- that's-that's good."

"Vanya, they said he's stable, calm down," Diego attempted to soothe her, already feeling his sister's anxiety radiate through the phone. “Try and breathe, okay? He’s stable, he’s alive, calm down, okay? You can see him when visiting hours open, 10am. Just try to stay calm and don’t blow shit up.”

"I'll be there tomorrow."

Diego cursed himself quietly as she hung up. He had never been good at comforting people. He knew he handled that terribly and that Vanya probably wouldn't get back to sleep and spend all night worrying, but it was too late to go back and change what he said. 

"Allison, hey,” Diego began, picking at his nails as he leaned against the wall.

"What do you want, Diego? It's early," she punctuated her sentence with a long yawn. “I’m trying to sleep, douchebag.”

"Klaus is in hospital with amnesia," He knew being blunt would get him further than being awkward and vague, like with Five. Allison didn’t like being left in the dark, or thinking she was excluded from knowing something, and if she did think that, she would get nasty, snapping at anyone and everyone. 

"...Shit," she whispered, to herself mostly. "I noticed he was being weirdly silent when I texted him earlier. He never passes up an opportunity to go shopping."

"'s not your fault, Allison, none of us knew, hell, I didn’t even know until like twenty minutes ago," Diego attempted reassurance, which had failed with Vanya, but seemed to actually calm Allison.

"Well what put him in there? Did he overdose again?"

“No, no, they said he was completely sober, no drugs, no alcohol, nothing.”

Allison scoffed, annoyed with the lack of answers, “Then _who_ put him in there?”

"Some asshole called Rufus Gillespie. No clue who the fuck he is, but he got arrested already."

"I'll see what I can find out about him. There’s gotta be some shit on the internet. Bye Diego.”

Diego was close to losing it if he got hung up on one more time, he swore he might scream. Still, at least Allison said goodbye. 

He groaned as he realised who was next on the list.

"Luther."

"Diego. What do you want? I told you not to call me."

"Suck it up, Luther, Klaus is in the hospital-" Diego got interrupted, and he muted himself as he swore under his breath. He had been hung up on three, and Luther had the nerve to interrupt him, which severely pissed him off.

"Overdose again? I'm not surprised. I knew he was lying about being sober," Luther scoffed, and Diego could hear the smug but pissed off expression on his face. “I called it.”

"No, dude, fuck you, he got attacked," Diego spat, trying to be as quiet as he could to let Klaus rest. Luther made him incredibly angry at times, especially when he turned Klaus into ‘just that junkie who was his adopted brother’. Diego knew he used to do it too, and he knew he still did it at times, but he was trying, and that was more than could be said for Luther.

"By who?"

Diego fought the urge to scoff. _Now_ Luther was interested.

"Some prick named Rufus Gillespie. I've never heard of him before."

"Me neither..." Luther remarked before hanging up abruptly.

 _So much for help,_ Diego rolled his eyes as he scoffed under his breath, quietly cursing himself for even considering the possibility that Luther may have been able to help. He stood there for a few moments, wondering who the fuck Rufus Gillespie was, and why he hadnt heard of him.

There was a sudden flash of vibrant blue light, and Five stumbled, placing a hand on the wall. "I have."


	2. II - Emotions???? Hahahahahahahah no thanks.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i love all ur enthusiasm for the story!! ur all so sweet ily, u give me so much determination to finish a story for once, yall are the best :DD

“Rufus Gillespie,” Five paused to steady himself, “Was Klaus’ old dealer. I went to his room and found his phone, apparently Klaus owed him a shit ton of money,” he explained.

Diego thought it over, “That makes a lot of sense, actually. Huh. But why did he almost beat Klaus to death because of a few bills?" To his defence, Diego knew nothing about the drug world, or how Klaus fit into it. The most he knew was that the cigarettes he tried at seventeen with Klaus made his throat scratchy, so he never tried any again. The most he knew was from a police perspective.

Five scoffed, "It's not a 'few bills'. He owes tons of drug money to him and has since he was thirteen."

Diego froze, "Thirteen? Klaus did drugs when he was thirteen?" He knew Klaus had some major problems since he was young, but he didn't know he got addicted that early. He thought it was around fifteen to seventeen, when he noticed Klaus sneaking out, and whenever he mentioned it, Klaus never denied or corrected him.

"Well technically he started at twelve," Five corrected, ignoring Diego's sick look, "But he got addicted at thirteen. Even I know that. Christ, you guys really don't pay attention, do you?"

"We started trying to pay attention," Diego defended, the guilt filling his stomach.

"Clearly didn't try hard enough. Do you even know why he does drugs?" Five widened his eyes, leaning back against the wall. He hadn't seen them grow up, so he was unaware how ignorant his siblings were, with Klaus' addictions and homelessness, with Vanya's abuse and manipulation, with Luther's snide jabs at everyone, with Diego's habit of snapping and not apologising.

"No," Diego admitted. "I thought it was just because he got addicted to the painkillers he was given when he broke his jaw."

Five rolled his eyes, "No, asshole, the drugs blocked out his powers. Like with Vanya, Dad gave her pills to stop her powers, Klaus takes drugs to stop his. It's no different. He can't see ghosts when he's high, or drunk."

"And how do you know that?"

"I pay attention, dumbass," Five paused, seeing Diego's unconvinced expression, "Fine, when I got stuck in the apocalypse, I found some of Dad's journals about us, and he wrote about how Klaus did drugs and he was disappointed, not because his son was addicted, no, but because he couldn't lock him in mausoleums anymore because he wouldn't even see the ghosts."

Diego paused, his face morphing into a horrified expression. "He stuck Klaus in a mausoleum?"

Five scoffed again, "None of you even pay attention. Okay, here's a test, who was Allison's best friend as a kid?"

"Luther?"

"No, dumbass, Klaus. Who did Vanya play violin to?"

"You?"

"Me and Klaus," he corrected, arms crossed, clearly pissed off. He may look like a child, but his angry expression sent chills down Diego's spine. "What's the longest Klaus has been sober since he was 13?"

"I don't know," Diego snapped, "A couple of months?"

"Ten days," Five corrected. "Unless you count the 1960's, then it'd be two years."

"Alright, you've proved your point, you done?" Diego snapped, eyes glued to the floor as the hurt and guilt swirled around his stomach. He didn't know his siblings as well as he thought, clearly. The thought of him ignoring his family and convincing him what he wanted to believe was true hurt more than anything else.

Five stood upright, arms falling to his side, "Fine. Pay attention next time. Tell me when Klaus wakes up." Then he popped out of existence, leaving Diego with his guilt. 

He sat outside of Klaus' room for what felt like days, waiting for his family to show up to visit Klaus. Vanya showed up first, a jacket covering her pajamas. She admitted that she struggled to go back to sleep knowing her brother was hurt. Then Luther showed up, surprisingly, nodding to his siblings before sitting down silently. Then Allison showed up, tears streaking her cheeks as she sat down. 

It wasn't long after that Diego felt his phone buzz, checking it to see a message from the burner phone he gave Klaus, simply reading 'im awake'. Diego went in first.

"Hey, Klaus, how are you feeling?" He asked softly, the guilt from earlier still gnawing at his heart. 

Klaus sleepily rubbed his eyes, wincing as he sat up, rubbing the bandages on his arm, "Better, I guess," he mumbled.

"Our siblings are here, if you want to see them," He added hastily, remembering Klaus' rocky relationship with them.

"Sure," he nodded slightly, wrapping himself in the scratchy hospital sheets as he leaned his back against the wall, playing with the headphones he laid in his lap.

Diego gave him a smile, walking out the door to see his siblings waiting anxiously. "He's awake, he's fine, he said he wants to see you all." Everyone lept to their feet, and Diego stuck a hand in front of the door before they could go crashing in. "Wait. He's....not acting like himself. Don't bring up ghosts, powers, drugs or anything like that. He's really jumpy and doesn't remember a thing, so don't overwhelm him."

Everyone nodded, not wanting to delay it any longer.

Diego opened the door, returning to Klaus' side, introducing each sibling as they sat down around Klaus' bed. "That's Vanya," he pointed to the one sat at the left side of Klaus' head, "That's Luther," he pointed to the one sat by Klaus' legs, "And that's Allison," he gestured to her as she sat on the other side of Klaus' legs. "Five's not here, he said he'll come later."

Klaus nodded lightly, giving a nervous wave to everyone. 

"Hey, Klaus, how are you feeling?" Allison asked gently, giving him a soft smile, hoping he ignored the tear tracks on her cheeks, and the red tint to her eyes.

"Good, I guess, it's not as bad as earlier," Klaus' eyes flickered frantically to a spot on the windowsill, squeezing his eyes shut and shaking his head before continuing to speak, not noticing the worried looks that covered everyone's faces. "My head feels better," he gingerly touched the bandages that covered the back of his head, "The bandages itch like a bitch though."

Small chuckles ran through the room. Klaus grasped his headphones tighter, turning his knuckles white.

"Why don't you have any painkillers?" Luther asked, eyes flickering to the missing spot beside Klaus' bedside, confusion etched into his face. He hadn't tried to be intentionally nasty, but Diego still shot him a sharp glare.

"I told them I didn't want any," Klaus shrugged, as if it was nothing. And to him it was, he didn't know that he used to spend all of his money on drugs and was stuck on the streets for most of his life. But to the other's, Klaus' rejection of free drugs had meant everything.

Luther's face fell, as the realisation hit him. His brother really was sober, and he'd been mocking him for 'lying' about it the whole time. Guilt snapped at his head, and he tried to brush it away, making a note to apologise to Klaus if _when_ he got his memory back. He gave a nonchalant shrug, "Makes sense."

There was an awkward silence, before Klaus flinched violently, eyes darting away from the spot by the door. They all looked, but nothing was there.

Klaus subtlety nudged Diego's hand, which was holding the railings of the hospital bed loosely. He looked down at the headphones, and then at Diego.

"Are they loud again?" He asked, shooting the others a 'don't ask' look. Klaus nodded, curling in on himself tighter. “How many are there?”

Klaus looked around the room, counting, and the longer it took, the more Diego worried. “42,” he muttered.

Diego felt sick. Klaus was never one for massive crowds, but he was trapped in a small hospital room in the middle of a crowd of ghosts. He never realised how bad it was. Five’s point from earlier rang in his head. 

_“Pay attention next time.”_

Diego had always thought Klaus saw one or two ghosts. He had offhandedly mentioned that if someone was involved in the death of one of the ghosts, they’d follow them around, or if they were close to the ghost then it would follow them. The fact that Ben wasn’t there had worried him, and the worry almost tripled in size when Klaus uttered those words.

Klaus had mentioned Ben usually warded off ghosts if Klaus let him, but there was no Ben, and half a hundred ghosts, so what was going on?

"Wear the headphones, we don't mind, we can just write anything we want to say."

Klaus looked ready to cry and hug him, shooting him a smile before pulling the headphones on tightly.

Diego turned to the other's, mouthing 'ghosts', before turning directly to Allison. "Do you still carry around notepads?" 


	3. III - Oh Shit Dats U

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Klaus finally gets discharged and he slowly adjusts to his 'normal' life, only the ghost in the corner of the room keeps trying to talk to him and he can't focus on anything other than the faint feeling of familarity.

Klaus had practically begged his siblings to get him discharged from the hospital after Diego had offhandedly mentioned that the more death a place had the more ghosts it had. Something had clicked in his mind and he realised that there might be less ghosts in a less death-y place. 

His siblings were reluctant to let him go first, eyes constantly flickering to the bandages covering his head. Luther agreed to talk to the doctors about getting Klaus sent home, and they recommended that, if he was insistent on leaving, to only keep him for a few more days. They had told them that due to his head trauma and severe injuries, he was to be kept under observation at all times, so they agreed for him to stay in the hospital until he was able to at least move by himself.

Reluctantly, Klaus had agreed, and the following week seemed to drag on with physical therapy and all that stuff. He didn't need the physical therapy, but they wanted to make sure the reflexes in his brain were still working properly and hadn't been damaged by the blows to the head he received days earlier. Luckily, his walking and his running were fine, his hands were shaky at times, and he had trouble spotting small differences in things, but other than that, they said he should be okay to go.

They still advised them to keep Klaus in the hospital, but Klaus had told the doctors to their faces that if they kept him there a moment longer than he had to be there, he would escape. That had convinced them that Klaus genuinely wanted out, and his siblings weren't just overprotective. 

Klaus hated the hospital more than anything.

He was restless at all hours, pleading the ghosts to leave when he was trying to sleep, or sobbing after their screams were no longer blocked out by the headphones.

There were a few ghosts he didn't hate, like the little boy who sat at the end of his bed chatting animatedly about how he checked in on his friends and saw them all grown up, or the young woman who sat in the visitors chairs at late hours, singing lullabies to help him sleep, talking about how she had never got to experience being a mother. There was the older man who would talk to Klaus about the adventures he and his friends would get up to as teenagers and the old woman who told him tales or her grandkids and showed off her knitting collection.

Klaus hated other ghosts. There was the middle aged woman who was soaked in blood who kept screaming for a doctor all day. There was the young man in the leather jacket who kept trying to coax Klaus into talking to him. There was the old man who would tell horrific stories of his time in war in shouts and yells. There was the little girl who constantly tried to push his bed over, demanding she wanted a nap. There was the tiny form of a baby who screamed and wailed all hours of the day, not even pausing for breath.

Every time he managed to sleep, it was always the same dream, he was laying on his back in some dingy motel room with dust particles floating through the musky air. But there was someone with him, sat with him, with Klaus' head on their lap, as they ran their fingers through his hair (which Klaus noted was considerably shorter in the dream than in real life). He never saw their face, just his blonde curls and his dog tags.

He would talk to Klaus occasionally, telling jokes and reminding him that he was okay. His voice was soft but husky, and it relaxed Klaus every time he heard it.

Still, he knew that whoever this man was, he was either incredibly imaginative, or he had some sort of connection with him.

Eventually, Klaus got discharged from the hospital, only _three whole weeks_ into his (un)pleasant stay. Which was three more weeks than Klaus wanted to be there for. Still, as he changed into the clothes his siblings brought for him, he felt happier than he had in a while. They told him they were returning to their childhood home. He knew it was partially because they hoped it would jog his memory, but he didn't care.

Five, who visited a day after the others, had offered to bring his van, and Klaus had to bite down a joke about how a "little kid like you can drive?". Diego had reminded them that they'd be arrested if a man who looked 14 was driving a car, and brought his own car up to the front of the hospital.

Klaus attempted to fill in the forms, except he didn't remember half of the stuff and his hands were shaking violently, just causing long squiggles of pen on the page. Five had snatched the pen from his hand and filled them in for him.

As soon as they got in the car, Diego had kicked up a conversation.

"So, hows it feel to be out of that hell hole?" 

Klaus gave an amused grin, "Oh, absolutely amazing. I swear if I had to watch one more ghost try and punch a doctor, I would've lost it. Seriously, a nurse came in for a check up and this little kid tried to tackle her. I couldn't explain what I was laughing at. I think she thinks i've lost my mind."

Diego smirked, inwardly pleased that Klaus wasn't always terrified of the ghosts that plagued him. 

The drive had been shorter than Klaus expected, and as soon as they pulled up to the house, his jaw dropped. It took up almost an entire block, and it looked just as creepy and gothic as Klaus had expected.

His siblings were all spread out across the house, some cleaning, some cooking, some just lounging around. He waved to Allison as he passed the living room, and then nodded to Luther as he passed the kitchen. 

He was absolutely exhausted from the lack of sleep the ghosts at the hospital gave him, so Vanya helped him up the stairs to his room, to his protests that he could _"walk just fine, thank you!"_ Still, he was grateful for the help.

She agreed to return downstairs once he got to the hallway of his room, and he was finally alone. No siblings, no ghosts, nothin-

"Turn around!" 

Klaus, inwardly questioning his mental stability if he was listening to ghosts orders, spun around. He was met with the sight of the young man who wore a hoodie and a leather jacket, no injuries visible on him. He was flickering in and out of vision. "And what do you want? Vengeance? Eternal peace? To talk to your family? How the fuck did you get here from the hospital?" 

He recognised the ghost from the hospital room, the one who kept trying to convince Klaus to talk to him. He hated him.

"No, Klaus," The ghost sighed.

"Then what?" Klaus crossed his arms, exhausted and not up for a chat with a ghost.

"Look at that picture."

Klaus looked at it for a split second. "Happy now?"

"No, seriously, look at that painting, and then look at me," The ghost practically demanded, exasperation filling his voice. Klaus sighed but did it anyway, finding it easier to simply amuse the ghosts until they left.

The painting was similar to the one Diego showed him, except they were all older in that one. Klaus recognised himself as a teen, standing upright with his hands behind his back, staring straight into the camera. He seemed to be outside of some sort of art exhibition, blood dotted around his body.

The ghost gestured furiously to a tall man standing beside Klaus in a hoodie and a leather jacket, black hair falling into his face. The frame had an engraving into the side, glinting in the light. ' _NUMBER FOUR & NUMBER SIX ON THEIR FIRST SOLO MISSION _' Klaus looked back and forth between the picture and the ghost. 

"Oh, is that all?" Klaus asked exasperated.

"No, you prick, remember, who was Number Six?"

He faintly remembered Diego explaining the correlation between his siblings' names and the numbers. He ran through them in his head, _Number Four was him, Number Five was just Five, Number Six...Number Six, god, who was Six? Number six...Number Six was... Ben._

He froze up, looking back and forth once again.

"Understand now?" The ghost, Ben, leaned against the wall, clearly pleased with the breakthrough.

"You're Ben?" Klaus asked, tilting his head, receiving a nod from the ghost Ben. "Is that why you kept trying to talk to me?" 

"No shit," Ben snorted, "Do you know how annoying it is to be stuck with only one person seeing you for 17 years and then boom, they won't see you anymore?"

Klaus scrunched up his nose, "Sheesh."

"I know." There was a beat of silence. "Weren't you going to go to sleep?"

"Oh yeah."


	4. IV - T Is For Trauma

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tw //  
> pstd attack (if u have ptsd or are educated on it, PLEASE let me know if its innacurate or offensive!!!)  
> daves death

Klaus awoke hours later, and the sky outside had become a canvas of deep blues and purples, dotted with glowing freckles. He rubbed his eyes, yawning slightly as he sat up, the blankets tumbling off of his thin body. The chilly air of the night invaded his room.

He glanced out the window, and almost immediately, he saw a flash of colours, shaped like fireworks. 

Suddenly, he felt burning hot, and he felt himself hit the wooden floor of his room...only it wasn’t wooden, or his room. The floor felt like warm mud, and his pajamas were long gone, replaced by a camo army vest and trousers. Panic flared up in his chest as he took in his surroundings, a damp jungle filled with men holding guns and screaming.

He could hear the whirring overhead and the explosions. 

“Klaus? You okay?” A voice came from his side.

His head whipped towards the source, recognising the deep sound from his dreams. Beside him was the blond who he had never gotten a look at the face of. His eyes were a twinkling blue, and his lips were a soft pink, parted slightly in worry. There were patches of dirt covering his face.

“What- Where-” Klaus blubbered, only now realising there was a gun gripped tightly in his hands. “What the hell is going on?”

Beside him, Ben was kneeling down, trying to figure out what the hell was happening. He placed a hand on Klaus’ shoulder, and it didn’t sink through for once. An idea sparked in his head, and he flung the door open, sprinting down the stairs to where he knew Diego hung out when they were kids.

As predicted, Diego was lounging on the couch, throwing a knife in the air and catching it moments before it dropped onto him. The moment Ben reached the doorway, Diego leapt over the sofa, knife in hand, staring him down. “How the hell did you get in?” He paused, expression faltering, “Ben? Damn, it’s good to see you man-”

As much as he hated to, Ben pushed Diego away, “It’s Klaus, I don’t know what’s happening. Fireworks just started and he fell on the floor and he kept saying stuff that made no sense,” He explained as quickly as possible, noticing chunks of his sentence fell onto deaf ears as 

he flickered between being corporeal and just a spirit.

Diego immediately sprang into action, sprinting up the stairs and barging into Klaus’ room. Ben had been correct.

Klaus had his knees pulled up to his chest, hands pressed firmly over his ears, seemingly speaking to someone who wasn’t there, gasping for air as he spoke.

“Sh-shit,” Diego knelt down in front of Klaus, tugging Klaus’ hands away from his ears. “Klaus? Can you he-hear m-m-m- fuck! Can yo-you hear me?” Diego asked.

“Why is there blood? What the fuck?” Klaus mumbled, shaking the blond man next to him, who had suddenly had blood start pouring from his chest. He stared down at the half-dead man in horror, screaming for him to wake up.

Outside of Klaus’ imagination, Ben was staring at Klaus in horror and confusion. “Klaus! Klaus! Listen to me! Breathe!”

“Is he high?” Diego asked, and received a sharp glare from Ben immediately, “That’s a no then.”

Ben seemed to be thinking something over, before looking at Diego, “I’m gonna possess him like I did with Vanya,” he explained, before his flickering body turned into dust that Klaus absorbed.

Ben stumbled slightly, the heat of the Vietnamese jungle hitting him hard. He found Klaus only a meter away, screaming over a blond man, who was soaked in blood. “Klaus!” He called.

“Ben! Thank fuck! I don’t know what happened, I was just in my room and then I was here and he was talking and then he got shot and he just started bleeding and-” Klaus rambled, voice thick with tears. 

“It’s not real, Klaus. You’re still in your room. I don’t know what’s going on, but me and Diego have been trying to snap you out of it. You’re still at home,” Ben reassured him.

Klaus met his eyes, and the world started merging back into their normal one. 

Suddenly, he was back to being huddled on his floor, Diego and Ben staring at him in worry. 


End file.
